Remember when day to day accounting was a lot simpler, before financial data was difficult to collect and manage? Have you been burdened by workarounds and inefficiencies? Is it difficult to access relevant financial data in a timely manner? Well, you may have outgrown your legacy accounting system.
These are the top 5 signs you have outgrown your legacy system:
- You have workarounds for your workarounds
As your business continues to grow and once simple processes seem to become more and more complex, it is easy to turn to workarounds to speed things up and try to win back lost time. But what exactly is the definition of a workaround? Is it not the cure to an inefficiency in a process or software? What may once have seemed a simple solution to a minor inefficiency can grow in complexity and breed other workarounds, in the end, cluttering a process that should have been straightforward and automated from the start.
- Cash Flow, Cash Flow, Cash Flow
Limitations on your legacy system may be putting a chokehold on your cash flow, thus hindering overall business efficiency, growth and profitability. The key to optimizing your cash flow is having full visibility into your finances across multiple departments and business units. The only way this can be done is with an automated system and generated financial reports. This will help save time and prevent user error and, in the end, most certainly free up additional cash flow. Having visibility will give you the ability to make more educated, confident business decisions that will drive growth.
- Your business lacks Accountability and the only person at risk is YOU!!!
You may notice as you look at your books that the numbers say one thing one day and the very next day those numbers may have changed. Who changed that number and why did it change? How will you ever find out? Most legacy accounting systems don’t track who makes the changes and have no restrictions on who can go in and make those changes. It can be very time consuming and difficult to track and approve changes that many times may be inaccurate. Upgrading to a modern ERP system such as Microsoft Dynamics makes it easy to protect your data and create controls that keep employees limited to where they should be within the system.
- Lack of Tools is wasting valuable skillsets
Any good owner will tell you that his company is only as strong as those he employs. Well, the same can be said about employees being as good as the ceilings that are set for them. If you have an employee whose time is tied up with meaningless tasks that should be automated, you are doing your employee and yourself a disservice. A disservice to yourself because you’re wasting money paying someone to do something when their time could be used in a much more valuable manner. For example, having a CPA manually enter data into a spreadsheet. His/her time can be better utilized with more important tasks, and your money can be better utilized paying that person to do a much higher value task. If you provide your employees with the right tools to succeed, they have the opportunity to surpass your expectations and give you a much better ROI.
- You have cloudy visibility when it comes to inventory
How do you know what is coming and what is going? Is your data kept on the dreaded, outdated spreadsheet? Or even worse, is it still done by hand? In this day and age, companies need all the help they can get to stay ahead of the curve and operate in the most lean and efficient manner possible. This cannot be done if you don’t have a clear view of your operation and inventory. When you don’t have a clear picture of your inventory, it is nearly impossible to forecast. With Microsoft Dynamics, you are able to generate real time, updated reports on the go and in the office. Saving time and money in the process.
It is easy to live by “if it’s not broke, then don’t fix it”. But there comes a time in every business when the seesaw tips, and it becomes more advantageous and valuable to invest or upgrade to a new ERP system.
If any of these 5 signs hit home for you, it may be time to learn about other alternatives.
By Colby Watkins, Calsoft Systems California Dynamics Gold Partner
Phone Number 310 532 5000 X110